Ohio State field hockey: Freshman always tough nut to crack

Thursday

Oct 4, 2012 at 12:01 AMOct 4, 2012 at 10:10 PM

The name Elise Johnson is nowhere to be found on the Ohio State field-hockey roster. Birth certificate aside, she became Peanut Johnson on the day she was born, when her parents noted the shape of her head.

Amy Saunders, The Columbus Dispatch

The name Elise Johnson is nowhere to be found on the Ohio State field-hockey roster.

Birth certificate aside, she became Peanut Johnson on the day she was born, when her parents noted the shape of her head.

Professors tend to use Elise, and some jokers go with “Cashew” or “Almond,” but otherwise, it’s always been Peanut.

Lately, Johnson’s contributions on the field have been even memorable than her name.

As a freshman forward, she has tallied five goals and one assist in the Buckeyes’ past five games, which ranks her as the team’s third leading scorer.

Ranked No. 16, Ohio State is 8-4 heading into home games against Michigan State and Ball State this weekend. A six-game winning streak ended Sunday with a 2-1 loss to No. 11 Iowa and Johnson scoring the lone goal.

Head coach Anne Wilkinson says that Johnson, one of Ohio’s best high-school players last year, has had an immediate impact on the team with her quick and crafty play.

“She’s very hard to defend,” Wilkinson said. “She’ll get you moving one direction and, next thing you know, she’s behind you.”

Johnson began developing her stick skills as a 5-year-old tomboy who thought ice hockey with the boys seemed more exciting than figure-skating.

Peanut-sized at 5-foot-3 inches and 116 pounds, she played on a boys’ hockey team from eighth grade through her graduation from Oakwood High School in suburban Dayton.

“My mom used to say that I was like Jane Goodall living amongst the monkeys,” she joked of her male teammates. “They just became like my brothers.”

For a chance to play among female classmates, Johnson tried field hockey in eighth grade and found that she liked the sport even better on turf than on ice. With only two high schools in the Dayton area sporting field-hockey teams, she also joined the Columbus Coyotes club team and clicked with coaches at Ohio State field-hockey camps.

“I just fell in love with the Ohio State program, which was a drive for me to get better,” she said. “I wanted to show up and be able to contribute.”

Johnson first scored on Sept.?12, in an overtime shootout against Ohio University that started the Buckeyes’ winning streak.

Even more meaningful was that the win came two days after the unexpected death of her close friend Scott Harman, an Ohio State student. The former athlete, who suffered from a genetic heart condition, continues to motivate Johnson’s play.

“Every second I was on the field,” she said, “I just wanted to make him proud.”